Advisory Notes After Mot (a Bit Worried)

[den9112]

Hi, i took my 96 3 door rav4 in for a MOT and i got a print out with some adviory notes ie, Nearside front suspension arm corroded but not considered excessive, are these quite easy to change , Front subframe mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive, Rear subframe mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive are the front and rear subframes worth changing considering the cars age and could i do it myself or is it a major job , also front wheels have only just met front brake imbalance requirements ,repair or adjust needed .The car failed on a flexy pipe and a shock . Could anyone give me some help on the advisories . Thanks

[bothwell_buyer]

Hi, i took my 96 3 door rav4 in for a MOT and i got a print out with some adviory notes ie, Nearside front suspension arm corroded but not considered excessive, are these quite easy to change , Front subframe mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive, Rear subframe mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive are the front and rear subframes worth changing considering the cars age and could i do it myself or is it a major job , also front wheels have only just met front brake imbalance requirements ,repair or adjust needed .The car failed on a flexy pipe and a shock . Could anyone give me some help on the advisories . Thanks

1. valium or alcohol but NOT both..... relax

2. front suspension is a doddle to work on. I painted my number 1 with red oxide last year but it needs done again.

3. Subframe etc - again worth either painting or waxoyl - if need be, you could pick another from a scrap dealer but yours might be saveable

4. The mountings; and channels in the passenger area floor would benefit from a good dose of waxoyl or whatever

5. The rear subframe should be ok if tarted up - bear in mind my number 1 RAV has done 170,000+ miles on Scottish roads

6. The number 2 RAV has only 79k miles on the clock and is in considerably better nick all round and underneath.

7. The rear subframe change/ drop down is a big jobby and not for the faint hearted! Front pretty much the same. More cos of the weight than anything else.

8. Front brakes - usually I found its the crap calipers which stick - its the pins that get gunged up and need a good cleaning - or easier just buy new pins for the caliper shoe. I changed the calipers to 6 pot KAD and the difference is miraculous. The discs were changed as well to KAD - not cheap but very very good. Careful if you go down the route of replacing discs and calipers - I don't believe the T discs are up to much on this version of the bRAV and the caliper is crap as well - you could clean up your own easier than buying some off a scrappy...and its not worth buying new T calipers. Just make sure everything is cleaned and sliding about OK.

9. Flexy pipe - not a surprise - do both sides as it'll need em.

10. Shocks - these will be worn out - you can buy adjustable KONIs for this model or probably others which are not Mr Ts cheaper. Do both sides - from memory the rears are cheaper. The rears can be changed easily. The front shocks will need a spring vice to compress spring. The front strut/spring/shock comes apart by unscrewing the large nut on the strut to allow you to change the shock. Mr T says this can't be done but I did it and put adjustable KONIs on. Its a footer but cheaper than the T solution of replacing the whole strut/spring/and shock.

Let me know/PM me if you want more info,

Ian

[den9112]

Thanks for your in depth and excellent reply, the garage is doing the flexy pipes and the shock , i have had a look underneath the car and the nearside control arm is very rusty , and it looks pretty straight forward to . (if al nuts and bolts come off ok ) . I have had a look on the net to try and get a control arm from the uk . No luck , Brake pads i can get but not sure which as i have alloys and i dont want to be cleaning brake dust of them every week . Now the weather is getting better i think i will get the wire brush on the rear sub frame and give it a coat of hammerite .